


The River of Memory

by snowynight



Category: Christian Bible (Old Testament), תנ"ך | Tanakh
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-19
Updated: 2009-10-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 08:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1642430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowynight/pseuds/snowynight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is Miriam's life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The River of Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Written for kastaka

"The days in Egypt seem so distant."  
"They have never been distant enough."

* * *

 

"It is a boy." Miriam says. It should be a happy day, and Miriam hates that she can't be happy.  
"It is a boy." Miriam's mother repeats, looking at the boy in Miriam's arm. The boy is doomed, as The Pharaoh orders all male children to be killed.  
'Woe to that man, when God avenges him!' Miriam bursts out.  
"Shh." Miriam's mother hisses. The baby starts to cry, causing them to look back . "Miriam, help me. We must hide him." "Yes, mother." Miriam carefully holds the baby, singing a rhyme to will him silence. Her brother will live, she thinks, the Lord will have mercy on all of us.

Miriam stands by the side of the river, not daring to leave her baby brother out of sight. It is not fair, that they can't hide the baby any more and have to part from him. Her mother puts the baby in an ark here the early morning, and Miriam stays to watch over him. She will do her very best for her brother. Miriam holds her heart in her throat when an Egyptian woman discovers and picks up the baby.

"Look! A baby!" . "It must be a Hebrew one." The woman continues to coos at him. So it must be fine, right?  
Miriam prays to the Lord and having straightened her clothes, she leaves her hiding place, trying to look as meek as she can.  
"Would you like a wet nurse?" Will she be too daring?  
"Very find, lead her to me."  
"Yes, Madam," Miriam's heart bursts with joy. She does not wait to bring her mother to the woman. Her brother will be safe now.

* * *

 

Miriam's friend passes by. She is dry-eyed, still mourning over her brother. Miriam might have shares this fate if not for Lord. Miriam sits by her and holds her hand.  
"Let's pray to the Lord. " Miriam says.  
"What good will it do to us?" Miriam's friend asks. "He will listen. We should wait."  
Miriam's friend is silent for a while, then they start. Miriam prays, holding on to the Lord that her mother teaches her about since she is young.

* * *

 

Miriam stops her brother and hands him a small parcel even before he starts. "Take it ." Everyone talks about the Egyptian prince who strikes a foreman to death, and it will soon reach the Pharaoh's ear. It is no longer safe for him to stay. "May we meet again in freedom, by God's mercy," and it remain her prayer for forty years.

* * *

 

Forty years weights heavily between them. Miriam can hardly recognize the old dark man as her youthful brother.  
"Remember the night when we say farewell?" the man says, and Miriam nods. How can she forgets, that the pain of the forced seperation is still here even now the Lord has brought him back? They talk and talk, and the distance seems to shorten.  
Then he tells an incredible story. There is a burning brush, and the Lord that has been silent for four hundred years speaks. He sends her brother to set her people free. Aaron seems to be in doubt, and she does not blame him. Even Moses seems to still be awed by what he witnessed. But Miriam remembers the ark with the baby, and how the Lord has helped. She says,"Praise to the Lord. You will set us free."

Then the plagues occur, one more serious than the precedent. The once prideful and boastful Egyptians now have to bow their head down, as their land reeks, their harvest destroyed, their people and animals covered with gnats and boils. However, the Pharaoh still does not let them go. He eats his word again and again. Miriam sees her brothers' slumped shoulder and hands them a cup of water each. "He will change his heart," she says. Moses just nods.

One the night of the final plaque that surpasses all others, the atmosphere is tense enough that she can slice it open with the knife that Aaron uses to kill the lamb they serve. But it is mixed with spark of hope and joy. She raise the bread and says to her brothers, "Next year we will be out of Egypt."

Even the Pharoah can't trun a blind eye to the whole Egypet's suffering now, not when he too has to mourn for his first born. Miriam does not even have time to prepare food, as the Egyptians are eager to drive her people off the land. ("You bring us death!" an Egyptian woman screams. Miriam recalls the blood and the tear they have shed, but remain silent. It is a day of victory and joy, and nothing should spoil them. She makes sure to tell others to pack a timbrel, though. She has a feeling that they would make use of it soon.

¡§Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron¡¦s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels. And Miriam chanted for them, ¡¥Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.¡¦¡§ (Ex. 15:20¡V21)

* * *

 

In the widerness, the people remind Miriam of her little brother when he was just a baby, who cries whenever he feels the need to. They cry for water, complain for no meat, and even want to return to Egypt! They must have known what fate would await them there. Her brothers are getting more tired and older every day, and she tries her best to help. Life may be hard, but God is with them and He listen. What more can they ask for?

"Aaron, what are you doing?"  
"The people ask."  
"But Moses..."  
"Moses is gone, probably dead."  
"It is wrong!"  
"Stands by, sister."  
Miriam can't believe they will abandon Moses and the Lord so soon. What will the Lord do when He speaks on it?

Miriam has never seen Moses so furious before. He even breaks the stone he brings from the mountain. She is a bit ashamed at first, because she can't stop Aaraon and the people, and it is mixed with relief that Moses return and a strange pride that she has been right all along. But it has quickly turned into fear and worry. She fervantly prays for the people. Will Lord has mercy on them?

Fortunately the Lord hears Moses' prayer and does not turn away from them. But the price is high. He sees the graveness on his relatives' face, their hands covered with the blood of their neighbours. "You do the work for God," she tells them, not sure the words bring relief even to her.

On the first Passover in the wild, Miriam reflects on the past year. So many happen. The once slaves bonded by Egypt now have their freedom, their law, and a sign that God is always with them. She raise the bread and says to her brothers, "Next year we will be in the promised land."

* * *

 

Why is she the only person to suffer? Aaron speaks too, and why is she punished? Why? She cries out to the Lord loudly as she suffers from the pain of skin affliction, the punishment brought by the Lord when she confronts Moses about his wife with Aaron. She has to stay for seven days as she is unclean. Seven days pass now, and some of her anger still remain, so is the pain and worry. Will she be abandoned alone?

  
Then she feels the touch of the Lord. The Lord cares for her and she is healed now. She is left in wonder for the Lord purifies her Himself. When she return to the camp and hesitate, she sees the people still staying there, with Moses and Aaron with relief and joy radiating from them, and something softens in her.

* * *

 

Miriam knows she is dying now. Funny that one's whole life seems to condense at one's old age. Children's laugh and voice wake her out of the river of memory. This generation do not know the bondage of Egypt, do not make the mistake their parent's generation makes, and they will step on the promised land, led by God. Miriam says a prayer of thanks to the Lord and finally close her eyes, forever.

 


End file.
